Machine for operating on shoe soles



July 22, 1952 e. FROST 2,603,803

, MACHINE FOR OPERATING ON SHOE SOLES Filed Sept. 7, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet1 INVENTUR. I Gusto ve Frost ATTORNEY July 22, 1952 4 A G. FROST2,603,803

MACHINE FOR OPERATING ON SHOE SOLES I Filed Sept. 7, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet2 IFIG.2

INVENTORQ Gu stove Frost ATTORNEY July 22, 1952 G. FROST 2,603,803-

I MACHINE FOR OPERATING ON SHOE SOLES Filed Sept. 7, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet5 e4 s2 8| FIG?) 65 lllll I I I I I I "1 K\ Z Z 4 I I I 53 7 '1 I {ff I6'2 Y Z |2 0 1 l1 1 I 7v v/ u l5---iflr 1-.

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY v July-22, 1952 FROST 2,603,803

MACHINE FOR OPERATING 0N SHOE SOLES Filed Sept. 7-, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet4 FIGS 43 9 INVENTOR.

II I v Gustave Fros'r TTORNl-V Patented July 22, 1952 MACHINE FOROPERATING ON SHOE SOLES Gustave Frost, Long Beach, N. Y., assignor toAndrew Geller, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of New YorkApplication September 7, 1949, Serial No. 114,327

, 6 Claims.

This invention relates to a machine for operating on shoe parts andrelates more particularly to a machine for cutting slots or openings ofspecial contour in the heel section of an inner sole for a lady's shoe.a

In-recent years it has been thefashion in certain types of shoesto'employ two straps to-form the quarter of the shoe rather than toprovide a full heel-enclosing quarter. This arrangement permits the rearportion of the heel of the wearer to be fully exposed, the two strapsextending upwardly from the sides of heel section. The lower terminalsof the straps are suitably secured between the inner'sole and the outersole and the straps thus overlie a portion ofthe edges of the inner soleas they extend upwardly over the ankle. I

A -"more comfortable shoe, and one which is -moreattractive inappearance is formed by cutting curved slots on opposite sides of theheel section-of the inner sole, such slots being substantially equallyspaced throughout their lengths from the opposed edges of the heelsection, "which edges are themselves somewhat curved. Thus, the strapswhich form the quarter, instead ofextending over the edges of the innersole, pass through the slots and are suitably anchored between the innersole and outer sole.

These slots must not be vertical but must be diagonally inclineddownwardly and inwardly so that the straps, as they emerge from theslots assume a curved contour to closely hug the curved-sides of theheel of the wearer. Prior to the present invention these slots had to becut by hand-which was 'a diflicult and tedious process and which wasmade more difficult by virtue of the fact that the slots had to have awidth substantially equal to the thickness of the straps, :so two cutshad to be-made for each slot so as to give this width. Moreover, manyinner soles were ruinedduring the process. v .It-will thus be apparentthat an important objector-the present invention is toprovide a machinewhich will quickly and accurately cut a slot having necessary 'widthandof theaforesaid contour, which contour may be described as a section ofthe surface of a cone.

In accordance with the present invention a small power drivencircularsaw is employed for the cutting operation, such cutting, however, be-.ing performed whilethe heel section is laterally i-deformed byholdingit. between two curved viselike surfaces; shapedcomplementary toeach iother..:. .While so held against movement, the saw is movedagainst the inside and cuts-there- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a machineembodying the present invention, a part of the housing being broken'awayto show the circular saw..

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on line'3-'3 of Fig. 2. I

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4- of Fig. 2..

Fig. 5 is a broken section taken on line 5- of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 isa perspective view of the inner sole and quarter assembly withthe slots cut for the straps comprising the latter, by the machine ofthe present invention.

Fig. 7 is a broken section through the heel section of the shoeandshowing the relation of the insole and straps with the heel of thewearer.

Fig. 8 is a broken section taken through a modified form of theinvention provided with dual cutting assemblies.

An insole S is shown in Fig. 6, the heel section, 1 thereof having arear curved edge 2 and opposed curved side edges 3. The quarter whichembraces opposite sides of the heel of the wearer is composed of twostraps 4 and 5 which are joined at a point above the inner sole by ashort strap 6. Straps 4 and 5 may be provided with suitable fasteningmeans such as buckles (not shown) to be secured around the front of theankle. Instead of causing the straps to overlie portions of opposed sideedges 3 the straps pass through curved slots 7 and 8 and such slots arediagonal in transverse section, i. e., their upper edges are closer toedges 3 than their lower edges.

' The heel of the wearer is shown in Fig. '7 at 9 and the straps closelyengage the wearer's heel at the sides which would not be the case if theslots were vertical.

I The operating parts of the machine which out these through slots aremounted onv a table [I] which is supported by legs II at the cornersections. The base table is formed with an elongated opening l2 toaccommodate a movable bearing assembly l3associated with a motor M. Themotor isrigidlymounted at the lower end of thebearing assembly and themotor shaft I5 passes upwardly through such hearing.

The bearing is supported in a bushing l6 carried by an arm I! which ishinged at one end thereof on a pivot pin 2| carried by a bracket 22 3rigidly supported on the base plate. Such a hinge assembly isconventional.

The arm is provided with a handle 23 at its opposite end for the purposeof moving it manually forwardly. A spring 24 is employed for returningthe arm to starting position. A bracket 25 carried by the arm adjacentthe handle forms a journal oria'fixed support for a pin 26 on which ismounted a roller 2'! which traverses the table top during forward andrearward movement of the arm to reduce the bending stress on pivot pin2|. A set screw 3| mounted in a block .32

provides an adjustable stop to limit forward' A bracket 33 having a Ifoot 34 is arranged to travel with the set screw movement of the arm.

While the foot is in sliding contact with the base plate which at thispoint is provided with graduations 35 to serve as a guide to move theset screw to an adjusted, fixed position. Pins 36 on opposite sides ofthe bracket produce conjoint movement of thelbracket and set screw asthe latter is rotated.

A circular saw 37 is rigidly mounted at the upper end of the motorshaft, 'the saw being of sufficient thickness to cuta slotof desiredWidth.

.A sole supporting plate till is mounted diagonally with referencetotable top -20 and is affixedzto the inclined upper edges 4| :of spacedvertical frame members 12 rigidly mounted in spaced relation on theupper surface of the-table top at its forward edger This sole-supportingplate is illustrated as being disposed at .an angle of about to theplane of rotation of the cutting element but it will be understood thatthis is suggestive only and that the angle may vary depending upon theparticular construction of the shoe. The angle between the cut and theupper surface of the sole should always :be less than a right angle,however.

The; central portion of the plate ll] is formed with a concavely curvedcavity '43 shown particularly in Fig. 5. .The heel section 1 of theinner sole is forced to assume the contour of said cavity during theoperation by means of a convexly curved presser plate -46 shapedcomplementary to such cavity. Plate 4% is mounted at the rear end of avertical, generally triangular support In which is rigidly secured to .ahorizontal slide 52 mounted for reciprocating travel in .spacedtrackways 53.

These trackways are :secured by screws 5t to a horizontal fixed plate 55which is secured to vertical frame members 42.

[Slide 52 is moved rearwardly carrying with .it presser plate it, by alever '56 pivoted at 51 on "plate 55 and havin an inclined cam surface58 i and a surface 59 concentric with the axis. A spring 62 returnsslide 52 to its starting position, such spring being mounted in acylindrical'housing 63 associated with plate 55. The upper edge of thediagonal sole-supporting plate '49 is fitted with a guard 1813 havingdownwardly depending ears -65 secured to the plate.

For the purpose of properly positioning the sole before it is heldbetween presser plate 46 and cavity 43 L-shaped members 66' and 61.?-

formed with slots 68 are mounted for reciproarticle.

A housing 8| may enclose the cutter assembly, and a plate 82 carriedthereby may serve to limit upward movement of the sole S.

The operation of the machine is as follows:

The inner sole S is placed upon plate 40 with its rear curved edge 2 incontact with guide 68 and the lever to then rotated above untiltheconcentric .surface 59 "contacts the forward edge of slide 52 to lockthe slide'in place. Pressure plate 56 has now securely clamped the heelsection of the sole in its laterally deformed position and handle 23 onthe cutter head assembly is moved forwardly, causin the saw to cut theslot. The farther the saw travels the longer the slot. Accordingly,before the operation commences, set screw 31 has-been adjusted for aslot of proper length for the width of the strap. The handle is releasedand spring 24 returns the cutter assembly to starting position.

The sole is now released by manipulation of lever '56 and the solereversed to cause the heel to contact the other ,guide member 61 and theoperation repeated.

It was earlier pointed out that the angle {between the plane of rotationof the cutting element and the plane ofthe sole-support'mayvary but thattheangle between the slot and the :upper surface of the sole should beless than a .right angle. Accordingly, when reference is made in theappended claims to fless than a right angle .it is deemed to refer tothe angle between such plane of rotation and the front or upper surfaceof the supporting plate,

Inthe modified arrangement of Fig. ,8, two sawslfl and H are employedeach being secured to shafts 72 and 13 respectively, disposed at rightangles to each other. The sole supportingplate 14 has the cavity 15, thecentral vertical-section line of the cavity being shown at M5. N0particular means for rotating the shafts nor for moving them toward thework are illustrated and no pressure member for'securing the sole in thecavity in laterally deformed relation is illustrated. By thisarrangement, both cuts can be .made simultaneously.

While two forms or embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed herein for illustrative purposes, and the construction andarrangement incidental to specific applications thereof have beendisclosed and discussed in detail, it is to be understood that theinvention is limited neither to the mere details or relative arrangementof parts, nor .to its specific embodi- -ments shown herein, but thatextensive deviations from the illustrated forms or embodiments of theinvention may be made without departing from -the principles thereof.

What I claim is:

.-l. A machine for cutting arcuate slots in articles and comprising aframe, an article-supporting plate mounted on the frame and having acavity for receiving a portion of the article, a

movable presserplate having a surface comple- .mental to such cavity andarranged to hold the article in the cavity in deformed relation duringthe cutting operation, a cutter assembly including a motor provided with:a shaft and are- -voluble linear cutting element secured :to the shaft,the axis of the ,shaft'being disposed at less than a right angle to :theplane of the article supporting plate and the article secured thereon.

means for moving the cutter assembly toward and awayfrom the plate andmeans for limiting the :entry of .saidilinear-cutting element into said2. A machine of the character described and comprising a frame, an armpivotally mounted at one end thereof on the frame on a vertical axis, acutter assembly carried by the arm and comprising a revoluble cutterhaving a linear cutting stroke and a motor for driving the cutter, asupport for an article to be cut rigidly mounted at the front of theframe and being inclined rearwardly from the vertical, said supporthaving a concavely curved cavity therein to receive the article indeformed relation during the cutting operation, and a movable presserplate arranged to securely hold the article in deformed relation in suchcavity while said cutter linearly cuts an angular slot therein, andsaidslot assuming an arcuate relationship upon the release of saidpresser plate.

'3. A machine for cutting arcuate slots in shoe soles comprising aframe, a sole-supporting plate mounted on the frame and having a cavityfor receiving a portion of the sole, a movable presser plate having asurface complemental to such cavity and arranged to hold the sole in thecavity in deformed relation, a movable cutter assembly including a motorprovided with a shaft and a linear cutting element secured to the shaft,the axis of the shaft being disposed at substantially a 45 anglerelative to the plane of the plate, and presettable means for limitingthe movement of the cutter assembly toward and able presser plate havinga surface complemental to such cavity and arranged to hold the heelsectlon in the cavity in laterally deformed relation during the cuttingoperation, a cutter assembly including a motor provided with a shaft anda linear cutting element secured to the shaft,\the

axis of the shaft being disposed at an angle of less than a right angleto the plane of the plate, and means for moving the cutter assemblytoward and away from the plate to effectively cut a linear slot duringthe deformed holding of said article.

5. A machine for cutting arcuate heel slots in inner soles comprising a,frame, a, sole-supporting plate mounted in the frame and having aconcavely curved cavity for receiving the heel section of the sole, amovable presser plate having a surface complemental to such cavity andarranged to hold the heel section in the cavity in laterally deformedrelation during the slot cutting operation, a cutter assembly includinga motor provided with a shaft and a linear-cutting circular saw securedto the shaft, the axis of the shaft being disposed at an angle ofsubstantially 45 to the plane of the plate, and pivotal means for movingthe cutter assembly toward and away from the plate.

6. A machine for cutting arcuate heel slots in inner soles comprising aframe, an armpivotally mounted at one end thereof on the frame on avertical axis, a cutter assembly carried by the arm intermediate itsends and including a linearcutting circular saw and a motor for drivingthe saw, a sole-support rigidly mounted at the front of the frame andbeing inclined at its upper end rearwardly from the vertical, the platehaving a. concavely curved cavity therein to receive the heel section ofthe sole in laterally deformed relation, and a manually movable presserplate for holding the heel section in such cavity in deformed relationto enable said linear-cutting saw to effectively cut an arcuate slot insaid heel section.

GUSTAVE FROST.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 856,842 Buckel June 11, 19071,847,919 Blessing Mar. 1, 1932 2,221,436 Remington Nov. 12, 1940 r2,241,478 Remington May 13, 1941 2,442,490 Germain June 1, 19482,442,829 Smith June 8, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 437,277Great Britain Oct. 23, 1935

